ADHD Awareness Month '24: Part 6

This mini episode is part 6 of a mid-series-mini-series created for ADHD Awareness Month 2024. This October's theme is 'Awareness is Key', so I'm sharing the 'key' pieces of ADHD awareness the ADHDAF Community need the world to know.

Enormous thanks to Chloe, Yas & Rachael for volunteering their voices and for all of their support!

Trigger warning: Contains swearing and mentions of sensitive subject matter some may find triggering; mental health struggles, ableism, bullying,  misdiagnosis, medical negligence, mental health crisis,self harm, low self esteem, suicide, domestic violence, intimate partner violence and horrifying statistics,

If you are in need of support YOU ARE NOT ALONE! There is immediate help out there so please REACH OUT
Search the ADHD Medication Directory if you are struggling to access medication during the national medication shortage HERE
Listen to Riyadh Khalaf's self support stratergies for ADHDers HERE

Alongside ADHD Awareness month it is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I'm in awe of the INCREDIBLE work of the late Kris Hallenga. Sign up for self examination reminders from her charity Coppafeel HERE
AND it's Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Resources for support curated by @feminist HERE

You can connect with literally likeminded legends and support the continuation of this podcast by joining the Patreon Peer Support Community
Enormous thanks to the Members for keeping this podcast going for over 2 years!

We invite you to join us online Friday 25th Oct for the THIRD ANNUAL ADHDAF DAY! In which we paint the world leopard print to raise ADHD Awareness. Simply wear at least one leopard print item on 25/10/24 to stand in solidarity with the leopard print army and post a selfie or video on your socials sharing the special message you want the world to know about ADHD, then tag @adhdafpodcast and #ADHDAFDay and I will reshare your messages for the world to see and hear us at a time of ADHD diagnosis crisis and medication shortages.

PLEASE SHARE this episode and write a review/hit those stars, because doing so means that these episodes will spread far and wide. Each one contains important information that society NEEDS to know about ADHD and from the very people whose voices have gone unheard for too long!

Let's join forces this ADHD Awareness month
TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN!
Myself and the Leopard Print Army thank you for your support
Laura x

Transcript

 This is the sixth, I think, yeah, sixth special episode for ADHD awareness month, 2024, the theme of which is awareness is key. So this is just a mini episode, not the usual format in which we hear from the leopard print army. So that is the incredible legends that make up the ADHD AF online Peer support community.

So in line with the theme, I asked them what key piece of awareness they would like raised on the platform, which I'm using to amplify the voices of those that have gone unheard for far too long. As I always say about the services, they should be patient led, nothing about us without us. These are the peers that are supporting each other in the absence of adequate medical support.

Please have a read of the description before listening to this episode to avoid hearing any topics that you might find triggering. Now, alongside Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we've talked about Dyspraxia Awareness Week. October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  I was horrified to discover that a study published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology found that the likes of low self esteem and dysphoria, RSD, puts women and girls with ADHD at a heightened risk for intimate partner violence.

So, Attitude reports that women with ADHD were five times more likely to be victims of physical intimate partner violence than non ADHD women, so that's 30 percent versus 6%. In young women, ADHD is a specific and important predictor of physical violent victimization in their intimate relationships.

Given the devastating impact of intimate partner violence, Additional research on how to empower females with ADHD in their social and romantic relationships is greatly needed. Absolutely terrifying and I just wanted to highlight that for all listeners and direct you to the show notes where there are some resources from feminist, which says domestic violence can happen to anyone.

And is never the victim or survivor's fault. Feminist has curated a list of resources for anybody suffering domestic violence. So alongside those resources, there is the usual list of resources available as well. So what you're about to hear are three segments from three crucial conversations had with ADHD AF legends.

This time we have got Chloe, Yaz and Rachel. My name's Chloe. I live in the uk. I'm 38 years old. I was diagnosed at 36 with A DHD and generalized anxiety disorder, and I also have a maths learning disorder. If I could tell people one thing about A DHD, probably that A DHD is not some sort of superpower, my brain doesn't function like other people, like I'm on a different operating system.

And I look at other people sometimes and I think, you probably can't comprehend what it's like or how much I'm actually hiding it. How much of a battle it is just to do basic things like listen and focus, stay on task, get things done. My brain and my nervous system and my senses are constantly kind of stuck on receiver mode, I feel like.

Like I'm always being bombarded with everything. A lot of the time I don't feel very in control of my emotions or my, or my impulses. I've had a lot of destructive behavior in the past. You know, and I've spent a lot of my life thinking that, that overwhelmed was my default mode. Sometimes I still do think that that is my default mode. 

But, you know, I also think that living on this planet with this neurotype,  it has made me a very resilient person, a very determined person, um, and someone who's very creative.  Uh, because in a way I've had to be, like, I have ADHD and I have dyscalculia, I don't have a single logical brain cell, I've never been able to follow instructions.

So I've always had to kind of wing it and compensate  and I've managed to use my passion and my creativity and my hope of focus  To my advantage so I can occasionally create magic  from the chaos That is my brain  and I'm proud of that. But I don't know if that's really my ADHD. That's all on me  and Crucially, I also think that's a privilege I've had and the support that I've had like there are plenty of people out there Who have not been so lucky I'm Yaz, and I live in Birmingham.

I was diagnosed in, I think,  2022 with combined type. I didn't realize I had ADHD until COVID hit, and I was stuck at home,  and I didn't realize how hard it was to, like, live with my brain. So, pushed for diagnosis, had a terrible time with my GP. I think the thing I want people to know about ADHD is, like, It's so unique to every person.

It doesn't affect everybody in the same way. My GP told me that I was too intelligent to have ADHD because I've got a master's degree. And I remember coming off the phone call cause it was a phone appointment at the time. And just, I just cried and I called my partner and he was like, she's obviously wrong.

You clearly have ADHD. So we pushed for it and had to really fight for it. So I think ADHD doesn't look the same for everybody else. So, You have to take people as they are and meet people where they're at. You can't fix everybody's ADHD the same way, but equally like ADHD isn't necessarily a thing to fix.

You have to help people and support people. And I just think, I think back to like, if I'd have known about this from the start, how much my life would have been better because people would have helped me navigate it. And that's the biggest issue that people have is not knowing how to navigate it, but you can't navigate it if you don't understand that everybody's is different.

And so, I think you have to listen to the people, like you're doing now, like we're doing now, like sharing their stories. Like, it's really important that people get to have their voice and also ask for the support that they specifically need, but that they're met where they are. ADHD, it doesn't have to be the end of the world.

If people do things like that, um, I am Rachel, EKA crumbly oo, on, uh, the Discord. What are the original OGs? I got diagnosed on the 10th of April, 2022. I went private. I am.  Combined ADHD. I'm still waiting for an assessment for autism going on two and a half years. It's supposed to be a two year wait list.

I'm having to pay for my medication privately because a year after getting my diagnosis and changing from methylphenidate onto the lisdex, my GP decided that they would no longer be willing to pay for it. So I am paying that out pocket, which sucks. If you're a Patreon, I do the morning body doubling on Tuesdays and I also do the tarot readings that day as well.

So if you ever need that kick in the ass to get motivated on the Tuesday morning and fancy a tarot card, just pop on. The main thing I want the world to know about ADHD Once you're diagnosed, the medication isn't a cure. It won't fix you. Basically, you go from feeling like you've barely got your mouth and nose out of the water, and you're basically just drowning and choking on the water around you, to the point where you've got your head above the water and you can float  a little bit more.

But you're still not,  there's still no major progress because one slight inconvenience can make those medications  inert  and your day could be pretty much ruined. And I've had some friends that on testing some new medication but it became suicidal. You need to find the right medication if the medication actually works for you and it should be. 

It is combined with therapy and it, unfortunately, it isn't. And you have to struggle to find the right support to get everything. And never mind the stocks shortage. Like, none of my local pharmacies have my medication available. Last time I was able to get it was because I was on a road trip down to London and was able to pick up my medication in Warrington. 

Because that was one of the pharmacies en route that had it available. And I live in Stirling. So it's a ridiculous five hour journey for me to actually get medication at this moment. It's infuriating. On the positive side,  going away from the medication,  like the community that you find has been a blessing.

Some have their own demons that they struggle with and that can be hard, as with any community.  The friendships I've made, they have been lifesavers.  There has been so many moments in the last two years where the support that I thought I would have had with my friends hasn't been there. The support that I found in the community. 

Which is my new family, a sisterhood, especially with Zade each year, it has saved my life. The fight has got tough, but just that community support has been  fucking amazing.  That's amazing, I'm sucking in through the eyeballs now.  So enormous thanks to Yaz and Rachel. I would be so incredibly grateful if you could help me raise ADHD awareness this month by sharing this episode and by hitting those stars or writing a review.

I really want these mini episodes spread far and wide because as you've heard, each contain better Such important messages that society needs to know about ADHD and from the people whose voices have gone unheard for far too long. If you'd like to connect with a whole host of like minded legends like this trio, you can join the ADHD AF peer support community via the link in the show notes, where you will also find a link to free and immediate support.

We invite you to join us on Friday the 25th of October for the third annual ADHD AF Day, in which we paint the world leopard print once again to raise ADHD awareness. All you have to do to take part is just wear, at least, one leopard print item on this day to stand in solidarity. with our Leopard Print Army and post either a selfie or video sharing what you would most like the world to know about ADHD and then tag AF day and I will re share all of your messages.

Myself and all of the Leopard Print Army thank you for your support. Let's join forces and get the world to listen to us this ADHD Awareness Month. We are the Leopard Print Army. Hear. Us. Roar.